I recently read a great and interesting blog entry from author Shannon Hale on How to be a Reader. Some people may have a different opinion, but I totally agree with her take on the reader's "reading experience." Take a look at it, and let me know what you think.
I'm currently reading The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Having a blah moment with it right now, but still trying (struggling!) to finish so I can move onto other things. Oh, how I wish it was Twilight. Or better yet, *sob* Midnight Sun. The writing and story just isn't doing much for me. And of course, it's not because it is a bad book (I'm sure it's far from being a bad book, since it won the 2006 Man Booker Prize.) The person I am right now just can't quite enjoy and appreciate the book. Who knows, maybe that will change one day. There have been plenty of occasions, for whatever reason, where I have a hard time getting into a book. But later on, when I give it another try, I end up loving the book.
Comments spoiler warning: there may be Breaking Dawn spoilers in the comments of this post, so don't read them if you don't want to be spoiled!
Good article, and very true. I especially like the part about the total experience being 50% writer, 50% reader.
ReplyDeleteRe Breaking Dawn, while I enjoyed it thoroughly, it was a different reading experience than I had with the first three of the series. SM was definitely coming at it from someplace other than where she was when she wrote Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, and I can understand the hatefest about it to some degree. However, while I think it is valid to be disappointed in SM's change of writing style in BD (the first three were written in a different style/tone than the fourth and hence certain expectations were not met), I have a real problem with people who cannot separate reality from fantasy. It's akin to soap opera addicts - they cannot accept that the actors are real people playing a part - and all these rabid fans who are so angry at SM for not meeting their expectations, whatever they may have been, need to get a grip! It's a story, not real life, and as good as it feels to get wrapped up in the fantasy, that is exactly what it is.
I'd have to disagree with part of what you said--I don't think Stephenie was coming from a different place while writing Breaking Dawn compared to the prior three books. The only difference in writing style was the switch to Jacob's perspective, which we already got a glimpse of in Eclipse, so it wasn't really anything new. Stephenie is very good at giving each of her characters a strong and distinctive voice, and Bella's voice did change slightly in Book 3 of BD. I think this may have bothered some people, but it was a necessary shift, we were witnessing the growth and change of the character because we were no longer reading about Bella as a human. In my opinion, this was the natural progression of the story, rather than a change in the author's writing style/tone.
ReplyDeleteJust my take on things--I absolutely loved Breaking Dawn, and will defend it to my death =D